Mount St. Mary to honor Mike de la Garza at halftime of Friday’s basketball game
Former Edmond Memorial basketball coach and athletic director Mike de la Garza will be honored at halftime of Friday's Mount St. Mary boys basketball game. De la Garza graduated from St. Mary and began his coaching career there. PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Mount St. Mary will honor Mike de la Garza at halftime of its boys basketball game against Oklahoma Christian School on Friday.
De la Garza, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame last July, is a 1964 Mount St. Mary graduate. He began his coaching career as the Rockets’ boys basketball coach in 1969 before going on to coach at Edmond for more than 20 years.
He led the school to the 1993 state championship, and was Edmond Memorial’s athletic director when it took home its next boys basketball state title in 2011. He retired in May.
St. Mary will host a reception at 7 p.m. in the school’s Mollman Fitness Center for all of de la Garza’s former Rockets players and classmates.
Mount St. Mary still has a shot for a playoff berth
Mount St. Mary, under first-year coach Chris Stiles, still has a slight chance to make the Class 2A playoffs. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
Mount St. Mary lost 54-21 Friday to Comanche, but is clinging to a slim chance of making the playoffs out of District 2A-3.
If St. Mary can beat winless Walters on Friday and Hobart beats Washington, it throws the district into a three-way tie and goes to district points.
First-year coach Chris Stiles is working to build a winning culture at St. Mary, which hasn’t experienced a winning football season in 26 years.
And Stiles isn’t going to let his team quit this week, not with a chance for the school’s first playoff berth in years at stake.
“Ask the St. Louis Cardinals,” Stiles said of the World Series champions who were 10.5 games out of the playoff hunt with 31 left to play.
“Just keeping playing. We’ve gotta keep our heads up and keep pressing on and see what happens on Friday.”
The Rockets would be in pretty good shape if they win and Hobart is able to beat Washington. St. Mary lost to Washington by five points and heat Hobart by 14.
Mount St. Mary, ZPreps raising money for destroyed Joplin school
ZPreps, a website that presents live webcasts of high school football and is run by Mount St. Mary teacher/coach Greg Spencer, is raising money for St. Mary Elementary School in Joplin, Mo. The school was destroyed by the May 22 tornado.
The website has only presented Oklahoma high school football games, but tonight will have a live webcast of the McAuley Catholic vs. Joplin JV game.
ZPreps is partnering with Mount St. Mary and other Catholic schools in the Oklahoma City area for the charity event.
Spencer was raised in Miami, OK.
“I have always considered Joplin a home away from home,” Spencer said in a release on ZPreps.com. “I came up with the idea for this project because I wanted to give back, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get people together online for a few minutes and use the power of the internet/social media to help rebuild St. Mary’s Elementary.”
Donations began on Sept. 26 and will continue through Friday.
Spencer’s goal is to raise $5,000.
For more information or to donate, visit http://www.zpreps.com.
Mount St. Mary to honor Chad Peery at Friday’s game
Oklahoma City police officer Chad Peery will be honored at Friday's Mount St. Mary home football game. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Mount St. Mary will honor Oklahoma City police officer Chad Peery during their Friday night home game against Jones.
Peery, a 1995 graduate of the school, was partially paralyzed when he attempted to break up a bar fight while off duty. Both of his parents are also St. Mary graduates.
Peery, a former Rockets football player, will be honored during a halftime ceremony, and the school will collect a gift offering for Peery and his family during the second half.
“His family has a long history here,” Rockets coach Chris Stiles said. “It’s only appropriate that we honor his heroism with a special event.”
Jason Kerseyjkersey@opubco.com
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Mount St. Mary’s Chris Stiles can coach — and dance?
I already knew Chris Stiles could coach football. What I didn’t know about were his dance moves.
Check out the above video, produced by Mount St. Mary media student Derek Miracle and teacher Greg Spencer to preview the upcoming football season.
Stiles has the school excited about football heading into the 2011 season. I wrote about his past success and the veteran coaching staff he’s put together a couple weeks ago.
The video itself is really cool and fun. But to see Stiles’ dance moves, you have to pay really close attention at about 0:25.
The Rockets open their 2011 season tonight at Crooked Oak. And I guess whether he dances like that tonight depends on how his team performs.
Jason Kerseyjkersey@opubco.com
Follow me on Twitter @jasonkersey
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Chris Stiles looking to turn Mount St. Mary around for good
I visited Mount St. Mary’s football practice on Tuesday and shot the above video. Coach Chris Stiles, who has previously had success at Lawton Eisenhower and Westmoore, is the new football coach and he has enlisted the help of former Oklahoma high school head coaches Mark Little and Dale Brown.
Here is the story that will appear in Monday’s newspaper about the team.
– JK
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Central Oklahoma Conference basketball awards
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA CONFERENCE
ALL-CONFERENCE
GIRLS
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
HALEY WEATHERS—LUTHER
1ST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
MORGYNE WEAVER—MOUNT ST. MARY
KELSEY DAWKINS—BRIDGE CREEK
CRISSY JOYNER—LEXINGTON
BAXLEE HORTON—JONES
AIMEE RISCHARD—MOUNT ST. MARY
2ND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
HANNAH HOLASEK—LEXINGTON
SHARON VOSS—LUTHER
NIKKI BRANDT—BRIDGE CREEK
SARAH TROSPER—CROOKED OAK
BRYANA WADE—MOUNT ST. MARY
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA CONFERNCE
ALL-CONFERENCE
BOYS
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
RYAN SPANGLER—BRIDGE CREEK
1ST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
SHAWNEIL SKANES—CROOKED OAK
BLAKE GIFFORD—LEXINGTON
KYLE FOREHAND—LEXINGTON
RYAN GIBSON—LUTHER
JUSTIN WAGNER—MOUNT ST. MARY
TYLOR SEABOLT—JONES
2ND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
BRAD BEAHAN—MOUNT ST. MARY
JAKE PEACE—MOUNT ST. MARY
NATHAN COOPER—JONES
JEREMY WAGNER—MOUNT ST. MARY
JOSH PERSHICA—BRIDGE CREEK
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA CONFERENCE
COACHES OF THE YEAR
AND
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
GIRLS CHAMPION
BRIDGE CREEK
GIRLS COACH OF THE YEAR
SKIP ASHWORTH, BRIDGE CREEK
BOYS CHAMPION
BRIDGE CREEK
BOYS COACH OF THE YEAR
JASON SANDERS, BRIDGE CREEK
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
Will the rest help or will the rust hurt?
I’m assuming the majority of schools are going to back in session Friday. I might be wrong. There will obviously still be some places where it might be too difficult to get to school, but the OKC metro area doesn’t feel too bad.
And if that’s the case, then it’s back to the hardwood with a full slate of games. I’ll admit that on paper, this doesn’t look like the most intriguing night of ball ever, but it should be interesting.
Still waiting on word about Tuesday’s games. That was a loaded schedule on both the boys and girls sides. Like I said before, just gonna be real tough to find a way to schedule these so close to the stretch run.
Back to Friday, there are a couple of big games to keep tabs on, but overall I’ll be looking for that whole rust vs. rest concept.
A lot of coaches felt this delay couldn’t have happened at a better time as a lot of the kids were sick in the last week. Not many teams were at full strength. A week later everybody should be good to go.
But it’s also been a week of no playing at all. Numerous kids on Facebook were expressing that cabin fever. “I need a gym now.”
Here are some of the top girls games Friday:
Millwood at Star Spencer
Ah, always good to see the longtime rivals go at it. Millwood has been every bit as good as anticipated. Great balance in terms of guard play and post presence. Love watching Teanna Reid play. Star is more than Sharane Campbell, but the Oklahoma signee is another player worth the price of admission.
Shawnee at Carl Albert
Don’t know if anybody is paying attention to the Wolves, but all they do is win. In fact, one of those wins was against the Titans in a 25-19 struggle. Micaela Yu came up big in a road win at Harrah last week. CA, led by sophomore Gioya Carter, is on a bit of a slide. Perhaps that week off did the team some good.
Choctaw at Edmond Santa Fe
Can you prove you’re for real in a loss? I thought that’s what Choctaw did in losing a competitive battle against Edmond North last Friday. I’m thinking about checking this one out myself. Santa Fe is still undefeated but doesn’t always look like it’s clicking on all cylinders.
Mt. St. Mary’s at OCS
I’m interested in seeing what makes this MSM team so good. I don’t know if OCS is the right gauge, but I’ve seen the Saints enough and know that with Dani Childress and Jordan Gooch, they’re never an easy out. The Rockets only have two losses but also (according to OKRankings) don’t have a win against a top-20 team.
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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com
Mt. St. Mary’s: Caitlin Baker a true leader…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
This was a fun story to write on Mount St. Mary’s Caitlin Baker, a star swimmer who has turned her attention to much bigger issues.
At 17, she’s done more than most people twice her age. And it seems like she’s never satisfied and will never take ‘no’ for an answer.
For my story on Baker, here ya go. For her site and more photos, go here. And for some of her long list of accomplishments, well, keep reading after the jump.
Mount St. Mary football coach Dal Nichols resigns
Mount St. Mary football coach Dal Nichols has resigned after three seasons, the school announced Wednesday.
The Rockets were 2-8 this season, winning the final two games of the year. Nichols led MSM to five wins the last two years after a winless campaign in his first season.
“We are grateful for the dedication and commitment coach Nichols has given to the Rockets,” principal Talita DeNegri said in a statement released by the school. “The Mount wishes him well as he moves forward in a new direction.”
The school is currently accepting applications for the position.
“The Mount is a great place and I am appreciative of the effort that our kids and coaches gave each and every day,” said Nichols, who previously worked as the head coach at El Reno. “I am thankful for the support I have received, but at this point in my life I have some other opportunities that I would like to pursue.”
